Presidential library fundraising draws ethics concerns

When Franklin Roosevelt opened the first presidential
library in 1940, the price for the modest fieldstone structure on his
Hyde Park estate came to $376,000  the equivalent of about $5.5
million in current dollars.

Today, as George W. Bush forges ahead with ambitious plans for a
library, museum and policy institute to be built in Dallas at his
wife's alma mater, Southern Methodist University, the cost to build
homage to his presidency has risen nearly fiftyfold to $250 million.

As the costs for these complexes have escalated, so have the
fundraising pressures. With few rules laid down by Congress and no
requirements to disclose the identity of donors, there are increasing
opportunities for abuse by those soliciting funds and by those who
might want favors in exchange for their multimillion-dollar gifts.